Former striker Luis Suarez may have gone but he has not forgotten Liverpool and he sent manager Brendan Rodgers a good luck message before their opening victory over Southampton at Anfield.

The controversial Uruguay international, who joined Barcelona in the summer for £75million in the wake of another biting furore and four-month ban, sent his well wishes to manager Brendan Rodgers and his former team-mates on Sunday morning.

Towards the end of last season Liverpool were blowing away opponents at Anfield and finished the campaign with 16 wins and 53 goals in 19 games at home.

This performance did not come close to that but it was never really expected after a summer disjointed by the World Cup and the arrival of new signings.

"Most club's pre-season would have been broken with players coming back late in terms of fitness and organisation," said Rodgers.

"We had to grind out a result. It was a tough game and I am really happy with that determination and character.

"You know you want to make a good start and that first win can set the tone for you - it certainly did last season.

"As the season rolls on, we will get better and more fluent."

Despite the critics predicting a tough time for Southampton after a summer exodus of players and manager they performed well and during the second half looked capable of repeating their victory here last season.

"I think we played a great second half, after 1-1 I think there was one team on the pitch playing and it was Southampton," said new boss Ronald Koeman.

"We had a chance to score the second one, two great opportunities but the quality of Liverpool, they don't need many opportunities to score and that makes the difference.